Make/shift is a festival of future-making in and around Walyalup Fremantle.
At its heart is the idea that the future is something we make, and that if we want just, sustainable, and joyful futures, we need to challenge the ones we're being offered and roll up our sleeves to make better ones.
Make/shift takes place on the lands of the Whadjuk people of the Nyoongar nation. We acknowledge their elders who have cared for this Country throughout time, and who know more about resistance and adaptation in the face of crisis than we ever will.
The two-week festival includes:
A diverse public program of events, exhibitions, and performances offering a taste of the futures we could make.
A conversation series taking on the biggest questions of our times with the help of some of our brightest minds.
The Make/shift Summit as the festival’s grand finale: a one-day assembly on future-making strategy and practice.
Why Make/shift?
Something feels different. To a lot of us it seems like the world is getting faster and more confusing instead of better, the future isn’t something to look forward to anymore, and our change work has lost its energy. A lot of days we feel overwhelmed and isolated, as futures we don’t like are decided by someone else.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Make/shift is about questioning the futures on offer to us, and exploring the more ambitious, creative, and participatory responses we need to take on the biggest challenges of our times and build the futures we really want.
Make is about rolling up our sleeves: building, organising, creating, experimenting, and trying new things. Shift is about changing the stories, systems, and habits that shape our lives. Put them together, and you've got a festival for people who think we can do better than trying predict or prepare for the future: we can help create it.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS
We love questions.
Make/shift Festival is a project of Good Together, in partnership with Berlin Creative.
Good Together is a studio for imagining better futures and bringing them to life. In the face of crises all around us, we bring people together to figure out what just, sustainable, and joyful lives might look like for us and for future generations, and to start building them right where we are. We’re a non-profit and a registered charity based in Boorloo Perth, WA.
Berlin Creative is creative agency in the public interest, with ambitions to be not just the best in the world, but the best for the world - an agency where environmental, social, and economic impact is created in symphony. They’re set up as a ‘social enterprise hybrid’, where they channel 20% of their time and profits back into pro-social and pro-environmental campaigns: like this festival, for example!
Who’s putting on Make/shift?
Make/shift is supported by a coalition of West Australian organisations working tirelessly to achieve better outcomes for people and planet.
We’re hugely grateful for the financial support of Lotterywest, Huber Social, ThirdStory, Committee for Perth, Impact Seed, Today, and the City of Fremantle, and for the in-kind support of Vessel Contemporary, WA Climate Leaders, WA+, WA Social Enterprise Council, WA Council of Social Service (WACOSS), WA Water Alliance, and Youth Affairs Council of WA (YACWA) - and please let us know if we’ve missed you!
Who’s backing the festival?
You don't need to be an expert, work in a particular field, or call yourself a changemaker to enjoy Make/shift. Some events are practical, some creative, some conversational - but they're all designed to be welcoming, engaging, and accessible.
If you're an individual who's curious about the future, care about what's happening in the world, or just enjoy thoughtful conversations with interesting people, we'd love to have you along.
If you're bringing a team or representing an organisation, Make/shift is a chance to inspire your people and rethink your strategy for a rapidly changing world (you’ll likely be most interested in the Make/shift Summit). Bring your team to explore the big shifts reshaping our future, strengthen your future-making practice, and return to work with new ideas, stronger connections, and renewed momentum.
Who is Make/shift for?
You can book tickets for as many events as you'd like in a single checkout. Browse the program here, and when you’re ready, head to our ticketing page to add the sessions you're interested in and complete your booking. You don't have to decide on everything today - you can always come back later and book more events if you change your mind.
How does ticketing work?
A little bit of everything! Our Talking Shift series brings you lively panel conversations on the big questions of today. We’ve got practical workshops on climate resilience, the future of work, and more, plus a housing density talk set in the future and a discussion on whether art can save democracy. There’ll be documentary screenings, an immersive art show, a pub quiz, and a storytelling evening about the end of the world. Some events are mostly about listening, others invite you to get involved - but we'll always make it clear what to expect.
What kind of events are there?
Do I need to come to the whole festival?
Not at all - Make/shift is designed for you to build your own experience. Come to one event that sparks your curiosity, spend a whole weekend with us, or dip in and out across the two weeks - there’s no right way to do it.
What is the Make/shift Summit?
The world's changing faster than our strategies for changing it. The Make/shift Summit is our flagship event: a one-day gathering for people ready to rethink how we imagine and build better futures. Through frank conversations, immersive experiences, practical frameworks, and hands-on strategy sessions, you'll explore what today's moment demands of us and leave with fresh ideas, new collaborators, and practical tools for the work ahead. If you feel like the old playbook isn't working anymore, this day is for you.
